Whilst browsing American theme park news I came across this article on Hollywood Reporter. The interesting bit is the following:

Lionsgate has pacted for attractions based on The Hunger Games, Divergent, Now You See Me and Step Up in New York, London, Atlanta, Dubai and China, while Paramount has licensed its name and IP for a resort in London.

This seems to suggest that Paramount now also has the rights to use those IP's in the park.

Unfortunately I doubt the Lionsgate deal mentioned above will have anything to do with Paramount. It's already been announced that there is to be a Hunger Games Themed attraction to Motiongate in Dubai which is due to open in October 2016, whilst in London a live Hunger Games Stage Show is due to open in a purpose built theatre next to Wembley Stadium next year. The Dubai project will also include 'Step Up'.

The article Alex quoted seems to be referring to the increasing practise of TV and film studios licensing their IPs for use in theme park attractions, a trend we've seen in UK parks recently with CBeebies Land at Alton Towers Resort, and Saw - The Ride, Angry Birds Land, and I'm a Celebrity at Thorpe Park. IT's important to remember that it is not Paramount themselves who are building London Paramount Entertainment Resort - they are merely licensing their name and film IPs. In fact, it would seem that the use of the licensed IP model will be what London Paramount's developers are aiming to use across the resort with deals in place with BBC and Aardman already. Whilst I wouldn't rule out a deal being done with Lionsgate, with the park now not opening until 2021 I would think that we won't see a deal like that until much nearer the main construction phase.

I should have edited my post after doing a bit more research as a few other articles mentioned the stage show in London. Shame as they could have made good attractions!

Might still happen. Someone was saying over on Thorpe Park Mania that they had been told during a backstage tour thing that Liongate Films was pulling out the Thorpe for for all the fright night mazes, with Saw: The Ride being the only IP to remain, hence why Big Top wasn't based off a Lionsgate Film. Now if Lionsgate were planning on creating/licensing for more UK based attractions, this would make a lot of sense, especially if they were in negotiations with another park to use their IPs.

Things have been very quiet on the London Paramount development recently with very little news coming from the developers since the announcement that the proposed opening date for the Resort had been pushed back to 2021. Back in mid December London Resort Company Holdings (the company behind the project) contacted all those on the consultation mailing list saying that a further round of consultations would take place this year and that further news would be communicated within a couple of months. We are now almost three months on from that letter and there has been no word yet of when these new consultations will be.

Although there hasn't been any information from the developers themselves, there has been a couple of recent articles in the local press which have looked at a somewhat less positive angle of the development.

A recent article published on Kent Online has revealed that the developer of the London Paramount Project has made pre-tax losses of more than £14.4 million in 2014 and has just £49 in the bank. It also reveals that there were errors in the 2013 accounts which meant the company said it had more cash in the bank than it actually did. Whilst it wouldn't make sense for the company to have cash just sat in the bank doing nothing, it is perhaps a little concerning that they are making large losses. However, having said this, I am far fro familiar with how the financing on these kinds of large projects work so it is difficult to determine if this is something that will have a negative impact on the Resort's prospects.

There has also been concerns raised by local businesses who are concerned that the current uncertainty surrounding the project is putting jobs and investment in their companies at risk. Local business owners who are currently based on the site of the proposed resort would be evicted if plans are given the go ahead, forcing them to move elsewhere - potentially out of the immediate area - something which, according to this article, would put 4500 jobs at risk. The lack of negotiations with the developers has meant that some businesses feel they are unable to invest and expand in the way they want as they don't want to put money into a site they will be forced to move from. They also want to make sure they keep funds available in case they need these to help with the relocation process.

As much as the new resort is an exciting prospect, it is easy to see things from the other point of view, an appreciate how the current lack of news and uncertainty is creating issues for many local businesses. The longer it is before any new consultations and discussions take place, the more time there will be for the negative opinions to grow. Will certainly be an interesting few months.

It's a great location for a theme park, and a so called "global resort" is definitely welcome just outside London.

I still however have serious doubts that the Paramount brand and ride IPs proposed have the attraction power needed to make it work on this scale.

I know we really want something like this in the UK and therefore want to support it, but we can't let that cloud our judgement. The fact is it looks like it's going to be a naff Universal Studios rip off, and we deserve better than that. Sure in UK terms it's going to be great, but on a global scale... It's just a naff Universal rip off. And I have serious doubts that will be sustainable in the long term without a very experienced team at the helm.

I doubt the success of the park even if it opens as the billions which will have to be paid back will take years on the size of the UK theme park industry and with a semi-complete park on opening I could see it failing within a few years of opening as there estimated guest figures will not be anywhere near accurate and as a result they will invest too much too soon and that will lead to cash flow problems. If they want to be successful they should look at bringing in senior staff from Merlin, Universal and Disney to get vital experience from a variety of companies with parks in multiple countries.

These latest delays as detailed in the article Dom posted are a little concerning. With the plans now not being submitted until 2017 this will inevitably impact o the proposed opening date, I really wouldn't be surprised to see the opening date pushed back again. I know the developers need to get the application right, especially with the rules surrounding National Significant Infrastructure projects meaning there is little room for deviation once plans are approved, however in my view, the more it is delayed, the less likely it is to happen

Personally, I agree with Lakey in that with all the delays, I'm becoming a little doubtful as to whether this will go ahead. It would be a shame if Paramount didn't happen because a new theme park for the UK is a great idea. I guess we'll have to watch this space but will be interesting to see what happens.

As reported on SouthParks News, it's been officially confirmed that the submission of the planning application for London Paramount has been delayed until mid-2017 to allow for a further round of consultations and further refinements to the masterplan. It's not yet known if this also means a delay to the current target opening date of 2021.

Although there were rumours of this delay, it is kind of disappointing to have it officially confirmed as it kind of feels like the developers have been forced to issue a press release because of the rumours and media reports. It is slightly concerning that there does seem to be a lack of communication from developers to several key parties as well as them not being able to give a clear indication of when the next consultations will be. I'm beginning to think this project isn't going to come to fruition

Great idea and was looking forward to it but these guys seem to have no idea what they are doing. For some reason despite having hundreds of acres elsewhere to build on they seem to think destroying a load of small local businesses on a bit they don't need is a great way to start a fun park. Numskull or what - doooohhhh!! Dr Abdullah Al-Humaidi seems to have been skinned out of £40 million by advisers who have got him nowhere. Sad but can't see this happening unless they change to something much smaller.

hi i think project london paramount is one of the best ideas ever, i love theme parks but most of them are far away, so having one in london would be great because it is close to a big vareity of people. so far my dream is to go to america to visit a place like universal but its too far to not spend lots of money. so paramount being as big and a competitor to diseny land is amazing because londons close to me. but alton towers will allways be my favourite park excited.

There has been a further setback to the London Paramount project with the unexpected departure of Fenlon Dunphy, one of the key figures behind the project.

As reported on SouthParks News, Mr Dunphy has left London Resort Company Holdings, the developers behind the Paramount project, despite being one of the faces of the consultation process. His departure now leaves only three directors for the project.

It also seems that the promised fifth stage of consultation has been put back to early 2017 which means that the consultations will be taking place 12 months later than originally planned.

Whilst we can never know the full reasons why Fenlon Dunphy has resigned, at this stage it doesn't look like a good sign for the further progress of the project.

Call me pessimistic, but this is another nail in the coffin of this project. Whilst I think it's a bad thing if it doesn't go ahead (it could be the wake up call to show that Merlin need to stop cost cutting so much if it goes ahead) I just don't think it'll happen at this stage.